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     Saarang Pilla Bewarse Username: Saarang Post Number: 45 Registered: 04-2015 Posted From: 97.113.94.59 Rating: N/A |
Zach Lowe on what next for Raptors: http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/19332982/zach-lowe-kyle-lowry-demar-derozan-f uture-toronto-raptors-nba-playoffs The Raptors, these wonderful accidental pseudo-contenders, have fundamental flaws beyond playing in the same conference as LeBron James. The makeover starts now, in a summer fraught with difficult choices that will chart the franchise's course over the next half-decade. "The summer is huge," Masai Ujiri, the team's GM, told ESPN.com after Sunday's game. "But every summer is huge. We are trying to keep up with the big boys." The Raptors enter a pivotal offseason with clarity. They just have to decide what to do about it. "I have to evaluate," Ujiri said. "It's hard to answer that question right now." What they won't do: Bring back this same group. Doing so would vault them at least $30 million over the luxury tax, for a total bill of something like $250 million. You don't pay that for a noncontender. It will be hard for Toronto to duck the tax if it retains Lowry and Serge Ibaka, even if its other two core free agents -- PJ Tucker and plus-minus god Patrick Patterson -- walk away. Salary-dumping DeMarre Carroll was always the Raptors' get-out-of-the-tax card, but Carroll's decline has been so severe they would likely have to attach a first-round pick as a sweetener. Trading Jonas Valanciunas loomed as the alternate cost-cutting measure, but no one needs a center. The most likely Valanciunas deals would return someone else's unwanted big fella. |